Page:A School History of England (1911).djvu/132

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112
The Tudors
The wisest thing, we suppose, that a man can do for his land,
Is the work that lies under his nose, with the tools that lie under his hand.’
The King whipped off his cloak, and stood in his crown before ‘em.
He said:—‘My dear little folk, Ex ore parvulorum
(Which is Latin for “Children know more than grown-ups would credit”)
You have shown me the road to go, and I propose to tread it.
Back to his Kingdom he ran, and issued a Proclamation,
‘Let every living man return to his occupation!’
Then he explained to the mob that cheered in his palace and round it,
‘I’ve been to look for a job, and Heaven be praised I’ve found it!’


The sixteenth century; an awakened world.Now we come to a very different part of history, the period when our own modern world began to be born. It was a dreadful period because the breaking up of the old ideas of religion, of geography and of trade was accompanied by great suffering to many classes and by the loss of many noble lives of those who clung to the old ideas. Struggle between old and new ideas.Yet it was also a splendid period because of the close union and understanding between the new Tudor kings and their people; because England armed herself to face dangers from foreign foes so resolutely that, at the end of it, she was the first sea-power in the world. And it was a time in which England produced a series of really great men in every walk of life. Men's minds were stirred up to think, and so the men with the greatest minds came to the front;


The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfils Himself in many ways.